Game-board.



W. C. CARTER.

GAME BOARD.

APPLICATION man APR. 15, 1916.

1 4,246. Patented Nov. 7, 1916.

amve wlioz WHLTER C- CARTER WALTER G. CARTER, OF PITTSBURGH,PENNSYLVANIA.

GAME-BOARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 15, 1916. Serial No. 91,400.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WALTER C. CARTER, acitizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburgh, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Game- Boards, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to game boards, and particularly to games on theorder of checkers or chess, and the object of the invention is theprovision of a game board so formed that a modification of the game ofcheckers may be played thereon, the board being so constructed that two,three or four .players may play at one time, the design of the boardbeing such that the moves are rendered more complicated than in anordinary game of checkers and the game made much more interesting.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan View of a board con structed in accordance with myinvention; and Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view showing the use ofcircular checks in place of square.

Referring to Fig. 1, 2 designates a board of any suitable material, thefield of this board being square and being divided into 169 squares orchecks, 84 of which are white squares and 85 of which are squares havinga different color, as for instance, black or red. The white squares arearranged alternately to the colored squares, as clearly seen from thedrawing. The central square or space, which is designated 3, ispreferably of a difierent color from the squares immediately surroundingit, as for instance, red, if the squares immediately surrounding it areblack, and preferably is circular in form. Surrounding the central checkor circle 3 are 25 black squares, or squares of a contrasting color tothe central check, these 25 squares being arranged in a square,designated 4, the sides of which extend diagonally to the sides of theboard or field. The space inclosing these 25 squares is preferablyoutlined by a line 5 touching the corners of the black squares inclosedwithin the space 4. Exteriorly to the line 5, and extending parallel tothis line, there are 24 squares designated 6, which are preferably redor the same color as the central check 3.

This leaves 9 squares at each corner of the board which are black. Thespace inclosed within the line 5 is called the kings square, and thecentral check 3 is called the kings circle.

The game is played with ordinary checkers, or like pieces, and is playedsimilarly to checkers, only the players start from the corners of theboard and play toward the center. In playing, the object of any oneplayer is of course to jump the men of any other player and remove themfrom the board and also get the pieces one by one into the kings square,that is, the space inclosed within the line 4 and to get the pieces oneby one onto the kings circle 3. As soon as a piece moves into the kingssquare it has all the attributes of a king, that is, it can jump in alldirections, but it is not crowned,

and the piece can only be crowned after it is moved onto the kingscircle 3. After a piece has been moved into the kings square, as beforeremarked, it has all the attributes of a king except that it cannot beplayed outside of the kings square. After a piece has been crowned,however, it then has free movement over the entire board in anydirection.

While I have illustrated in Fig. 1 a board laid ofl' into squares, thisis not necessary as it may be laid off 'in circles as illustratedin Fig.2, in which case, however, preferably the central square 3 has the formof a square to distinguish it from the circles.

It will be seen that the game lends itself to any number of players fromtwo to four because it is played toward the center of the board, andfurthermore, that'because of the subdivision of the board into the kingssquare and the kings circle the playingpf the game is rendered much morecomplicated and interesting. It is particularly essential in this gamethat the kings square 4 should have a sufficient number of checks in itto permit uncrowned kings within this square to have free movement overa relatively large extent of board, as otherwise the defense of thekings square against an adversary would be too easy, and one or twokings within the kings square, even though they had not been crowned,would render it extremely diflicult for an adversary to move his piecesinto the kings square. Furthermore, by providing the red checks 6 whichbound the red line'5, this red line is Patented Nov. *2, 1916. i

emphasized, and again special rules may be made for playing upon thisline of red checks.

It will be noted that the checks 6 which bound the kings square or spaceextend diagonally across the field so as to leave at the corners of thefield a certain number of checks, illustrated as 9 in number, whichdefine the space within which the players dispose their men at thebeginning of the game. In view of the fact that the checks upon whichthe pieces movemay be either round or square or have any other desiredform, I will hereafter in the claims define these spaces as checksinstead of squares.

Having described the invention, what I claim is:

1. A game-board having a square field laid off in alternate differentcolored checks and having a centrally disposed kings check of one colorsurrounded by a kings space having checks of a different color from. thecentral check, said kings space being square and defined by a line ofcontrasting color to the checks, the sides of the kings space extendingdiagonally with relation to the sides of the field.

2. A game board having a square field laid off in alternate differentcolored checks and having a centrally disposed kings check of one colorsurrounded by a kings space having checks of a difi'erent color from thecentral check, said kings space being square and defined by a line ofcontrasting color to the checks inclosed therein, the sides of the kingsspace extending diagonally to the sides of the field, the alternatesections exterior to the line and touching the line at the corners beingof the same color as the line and as the kings check but differing incolor from the other checks.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

I WALTER C. CARTER. Witnesses:

JNo. A. BLEICHNER, CHARLES HOELLEIN.

